Keyboard Preferences on Your MacBook

On your MacBook, the Keyboard preferences pane of the Hardware section of the System Preferences window has two tabs: Keyboard and Keyboard Shortcuts. These two tabs enable you to set the rate at which a keystroke repeats and well as customizing shortcuts for the power user.

Keyboard: Move the Key Repeat Rate slider to alter the rate at which a keystroke repeats. You can also adjust the Delay until Repeat slider to alter how long a key must be held down before it repeats. You can also set up a wireless Bluetooth keyboard from this pane.

MacBook owners can set the F1–F12 keys as standard function keys within applications by enabling the Use All F1, F2, Etc. Keys as Standard Function Keys check box. If you enable this feature, you have to hold down the Function (or Fn) key while pressing the F1 through F12 keys to use the regular hardware keys.

If you have a MacBook Pro, you can choose to turn the ambient keyboard lighting on and off from this pane, or turn off keyboard lighting after an inactivity delay that you set.

Keyboard Shortcuts: If you’re a power user who appreciates the lure of the keyboard shortcut, you can edit your shortcuts here.

Looking for even more keyboard customizing possibilities? Select the All Controls radio button on the Keyboard Shortcuts pane to see additional keys to use.